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In what has become a new local Christmas tradition, the Palestinian Arabs this week again claimed Jesus as one of their own.

It matters not that every single shred of historical evidence identifies the Jews, not the Arabs, as the dominant ethnic presence in the land two thousand years ago. The Palestinians have decided that Jesus himself was Palestinian - a nationality that didn’t even exist at the time - and there appears to be little-to-nothing anyone can say to make them see otherwise.

Set in their delusion, the Palestinian leadership on Monday issued a lengthy statement calling Jesus “a Palestinian messenger who would become a guiding light for millions around the world.” An animated video posted to YouTube by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) made similar claims.

Initially irritated by the farce, Israeli leaders now seem more amused than anything else that the Palestinians are clinging ever tighter to this fantasy.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas “should have read the Gospels before uttering such offensive nonsense, but we will forgive him because he doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told The Times of Israel, echoing Jesus own forgiveness of his ignorant executioners.

Palmor went on to note that Abbas’ official statement, which harshly blamed Israel for the lack of peace and the exodus of Christians from the region, was “not exactly in the spirit of Christmas. Maybe he needs a hug from Santa?”

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